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“Daughters of Ishmael” Author Commentary

I am hungry for more stories of women in church. As I was searching through The Book of Mormon for glimpses of unnamed women, I had the impression that I should write about them.

I immediately knew I wanted to first write about the daughters of Ishmael. I have long wondered if Laman and Lemuel’s wives were the women Nephi calls his sisters (who are only mentioned in 2 Nephi 5:6) that fled with Nephi into the wilderness following Lehi’s death. So I wanted to explore that moment when Laman’s wife chooses to go with Nephi instead of remain with her husband.

Initially, I was going to have Laman’s wife go with Nephi because she believed he was a prophet. Then I learned that I am not the first author to consider this. Orson Scott Card did it in Earthfall and Diane Stringham Tolley did it in Daughter of Ishmael. Also, one beta reader had a hard time believing that Mahalath would believe in Nephi after participating in the rudeness on the boat. So I decided to dial back Mahalath’s faith. In doing so, I discovered that I actually enhanced the conflict, and that was good, because leaving a spouse, even for the right reason, is not an easy choice.

Many thanks to my beta readers John Parsons, Emily Debenham, and Regina Layton.